Fitness drink tycoon killed trying to break speed record
AN INVESTIGATION was underway last night after a multimillionaire businessman and motorsport fanatic died during an attempt to break a 50-yearold British land speed record.
Zef Eisenberg, 47, the tycoon behind Maximuscle, a sports nutrition firm, was killed when his custom-built Porsche 911 Turbo S went out of control during a run at Elvington Airfield in North Yorkshire on Thursday.
The married father of two, from Guernsey, had been attempting to break the 207mph barrier, believed to be for a “flying kilometre”, set by Tony Densham in 1970, when his car suddenly flipped and crashed.
The tragedy comes four years after Mr Eisenberg was almost killed at the same spot when he lost control while travelling at 230mph on a Rolls-royce jet turbine-powered motorcycle.
The event had been organised by Straightliners, a West Yorkshire-based firm that specialises in high-speed record attempts around the world, and the UK Timing Association.
The previous day, the airfield had hosted more sedate record attempts, including ding the fastest person in a wheelchair and the fastest in a wheelie bin.
Mr Eisenberg hoped to surpass the 207mph ph barrier, which was set at the same ame airfield 50 years ago today. . One eyewitness said he had almost most completed his run. A spokesman sman for Motorsport UK, the governing overning body for such events, s, said: “At 16.30, the car went out of control at high speed at the end of a run.
“Local cal police and ambulance crews attended, however t he driver tragically ally died at the scene. cene. Zef leaves behind his partner Mirella D’antonio and two children.” It said a full investigation involving the police would now begin. A spokesman for Straightliners said: “All in Straightliners and UKTA extend their condolences to Zef ’s partner Mirella, the Eisenberg family, the vehicle operating and build crew and all those who supported Zef ’s speed efforts with his bikes and car.” Mr Eisenberg, who held more than 70 high-speed records, was a self confessed “speed freak”, who once said: “My problem is, when is it enough? I want to go further. If you can go 234mph, why not 244mph?”
A former competitive bodybuilder, he left school at 15, and later set up Maximuscle, which he sold to GlaxoSmithkline in 2011 for £162 million. He set up the Madmax race team, which designed and built recordbreaking motorcycles and cars. Despite almost being killed in 2016, he returned to the sport and last year broke the world’s fastest time for an electric motorbike. In 2006 Richard Hammond, the Top Gear presenter, was involved in a high-speed smash at Elvington.